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Genuine Obsessions With Fake Qualifications

By M. Bakri Musa

The kerfuffle over the college credentials of Kamalanathan a/l P. Pancanathan, the Barisan candidate in the recent Ulu Selangor by-election, reveals less of the man but more on our fascination with paper qualifications. This obsession with credentialism is an intellectually lazy way to judge someone; you let those papers and certificates do it for you.

Who cares if you have a doctorate from Oxford, for if you cannot speak and read our national language then you have no business to be in Parliament or the state Assembly, where bills are debated and businesses conducted in Malay. You cannot possibly be effective if you are not fluent in that language.

At the same time with Malaysia inextricably linked with the greater world and English being the global language, our legislators and others who presume to lead us should be equally facile in that language. Anything less and they would not be serving us – their clients – honestly and honorably.
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MACC should investigate whether Najib had committed at least two election bribery offences under Election Offences Act 1957 in the Hulu Selangor by-election campaign yesterday

It has been brought to my attention that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should investigate whether the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had committed at least two election bribery offences under the Election Offences Act 1957 in the Hulu Selangor by-election campaign for the Barisan Nasional candidate yesterday.

The first incident was his blatant disregard of the Election Offences Act against bribery when he tried to induce the 1,500 voters of Rasa to vote for the BN candidate by announcing the approval of RM3 million for rebuilding Rasa Chinese Primary School but with one big condition.

Najib publicly declared: “If we win this by-election, you can come to Kuala Lumpur the next day to look for me. I will write a personal letter to approve the money and it will be transferred to the school board’s account. If we lose, don’t have to come.”

The second incident was during his visit to Kampong Hassan where he promised the Chinese-majority voters in the area that the Barisan Nasional government would build 200 low-cost housing for them if the BN candidate wins the by-election.
Continue reading “MACC should investigate whether Najib had committed at least two election bribery offences under Election Offences Act 1957 in the Hulu Selangor by-election campaign yesterday”

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MACC’s latest and greatest test – dare it investigate the Prime Minister whether he had violated Election Offences Act 1954 for RM3 million electoral bribery in Hulu Selangor by-election?

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Malaysia’s Corruption Perception Index 2010 ranking of Transparency International are already reeling from two serious blows:

  1. the mysterious death of DAP aide Teoh Beng Hock at the MACC Headquarters falling from 14th to 5th floor on July 16 last year and the inability of the Teoh family and the Selangor State Government to persuade renowned Thai pathologist Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunand to return to Malaysia continue her testimony at the Teoh Beng Hock inquest because of “pressures” on the Thai Government from the Malaysian side; and

  2. the farce of the prosecution and acquittal on corruption charges of the two Perak “frogs”, Perak State Assemblymen Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi and Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu who played key roles in the illegal and undemocratic toppling of the Pakatan Rakyat Perak State government in February last year.

    3. Now, there is a third and bigger headache for the MACC.
    Continue reading “MACC’s latest and greatest test – dare it investigate the Prime Minister whether he had violated Election Offences Act 1954 for RM3 million electoral bribery in Hulu Selangor by-election?”

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Tweets since polling eve

@limkitsiang

ntv7 censorship n Joshua’s resignation – call 4public inquiry as Najib’s denial of Rosmah’s role lacks credibility http://bit.ly/dCtT14
about 24 hours ago via web

1+million MCA mmbrs shld openly vote agnst MCA/BN candidates in next GE as they cannot hold heads high, in pride/honour http://bit.ly/cbQ6KG
about 24 hours ago via web

#P94 #HS Latest survey shows PKR slightly ahead http://bit.ly/c29QHN PR 51.7% vs BN 48.3 %
about 23 hours ago via web

Very true RT @ahpooki: @limkitsiang uncle lim, be careful wif these borderline numbers..can go either way. PR must hv 80%..yeah !! go PR go..!!
04/24/2010 01:44 PM
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Let Hulu Selangor set the benchmark for good conduct

by P Ramakrishnan
24 April 2010

By-elections have a habit of bringing out the worst in individuals. It is a time when certain party members suddenly become wise and enlightened. It is a time when hypocrisy takes centre stage.

It is rather strange that people who have been members of a political party and who have been running down their opponents – meaning BN and Umno – for quite a while now suddenly discover that their party is no longer the same and that their leaders had betrayed the rakyat.

The timing of their confession when a by-election is on only betrays their hypocrisy and confirms the claim that PRK members are paid between RM1,000 and RM1,500 for making damaging statements and condemning their former party. Continue reading “Let Hulu Selangor set the benchmark for good conduct”

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The more than one million MCA members should openly vote against MCA and BN parliamentary and state assembly candidates in next general elections

The more than one million MCA members should openly vote against MCA and BN parliamentary and state assembly candidates in next general elections as they cannot hold their heads high, in pride and honour, as a result of the irresponsible politics of top MCA and Umno leaders.

Just two examples from the recent Parliamentary meeting suffice to demonstrate why the acts of omission and commission by MCA Ministers have made it impossible for the more than a million MCA members to stand tall among the people.

First, the tabling of the Road Transport (Amendment) Bill in Parliament on Monday to impose many arbitrary and oppressive measures, like the more than three-fold increase of compound fines for traffic offences from RM300 to RM1,000.

Because of public outrage at the oppressive amendments and the impending Hulu Selangor by-election on Sunday, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz quickly withdrew the Bill.

This creates a double first – first time a Bill was withdrawn in super-quick time of 48 hours, which shows that the Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat had been most irresponsible and negligent in not giving proper consideration and care in drafting the amendments.
Continue reading “The more than one million MCA members should openly vote against MCA and BN parliamentary and state assembly candidates in next general elections”

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Call for public inquiry as Najib’s denial of Rosmah’s role in media censorship of ntv7 news talk resulting in resignation of senior producer Joshua Wong lacks credibility

The denial of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor had a role in the media censorship of ntv7 news talks show “Editor’s Time” resulting in the resignation of senior producer Joshua Wong lacks credibility.

If Najib is convinced that Rosmah is not involved, he should set up a public inquiry to clear Rosmah’s name and convince Malaysians that he is not setting a new precedent where the Prime Minister’s wife is assuming the de facto role of a Super Minister spanning various ministries by openly intervening in public and government affairs.

Does Najib agree that any involvement of the Prime Minister’s wife in the media censorship of ntv7 talk show resulting in the resignation of Joshua Wong is completely unacceptable and undesirable?
Continue reading “Call for public inquiry as Najib’s denial of Rosmah’s role in media censorship of ntv7 news talk resulting in resignation of senior producer Joshua Wong lacks credibility”

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Farce of prosecution and acquittal of two Perak “frogs” has plunged public confidence in MACC to new low and will cause Malaysia’s CPI 2010 to plumb a new depth

The farce of the prosecution and acquittal of the two Perak “frogs” has plunged public confidence in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to a new low and will cause Malaysia’s Corruption Perception Index 2010 of Transparency International to plumb to a new depth from the nation’s present worst ranking of No. 56 in 2009.

Even before public confidence in MACC has recovered from the fatal blow of the mysterious death of DAP aide Teoh Beng Hock at the MACC Headquarters falling from 14th to 5th floor on July 16 last year, the MACC has scored another own goal with the farcical prosecution and acquittal of the two “frogs” in Perak.

MACC and the Barisan Nasional should know the outcome if an opinion poll is conducted among Perakians and Malaysians as to whether they believe there was a “package deal” offered to engineer the defection of the two “frogs” and their dastardly betrayal of the people’s mandate to topple the legitimate Pakatan Rakyat Perak state government and Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin.

The new grievous blow to public confidence in the MACC could not have come at a worse time, when public outrage at the obstacles and pressures put in the way of the renowned Thai pathologist Dr. Pornthip Rojanasunand to prevent her from coming to the country to testify in the inquest into the causes of Teoh Beng Hock’s death has not subsided.
Continue reading “Farce of prosecution and acquittal of two Perak “frogs” has plunged public confidence in MACC to new low and will cause Malaysia’s CPI 2010 to plumb a new depth”

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Eight reasons why the 8,000 MCA members in Hulu Selangor should teach MCA and UMNO leaderships a severe lesson by voting for PR candidate Zaid Ibrahim on Sunday’s by-election

There are only 36 hours of campaigning left before the Hulu Selangor voters go to the polls in the Sunday by-election.

Barisan Nasional has the lead in the Hulu Selangor by-election. The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir have unleashed a blitzkrieg Umno/Barisan Nasional assault marked by a campaign of falsehoods and character assassination against the Pakatan Rakyat and candidate.

The impact of such intensive Umno/BN campaign, particularly on the Malay voters in the outlying areas without easy access to Pakatan Rakyat information, cannot be underestimated.

I am sounding this alarm alert as I believe it is still possible to overcome this Barisan Nasional lead in the next 36 hours for Datuk Zaid Ibrahim to be elected as the new MP for Hulu Selangor, provided all Pakatan Rakyat leaders and campaigners from PKR, PAS and DAP make a supreme effort to get every possible voter out to the polling stations on Sunday.
Continue reading “Eight reasons why the 8,000 MCA members in Hulu Selangor should teach MCA and UMNO leaderships a severe lesson by voting for PR candidate Zaid Ibrahim on Sunday’s by-election”

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Press censorship of ntv7 talk show involving Prime Minister’s wife Rosmah resulting in resignation of senior producer Joshua Wong must be deplored by all Malaysians as an undesirable and dangerous precedent

The press censorship of popular hour-long ntv7 talk show “Editor’s Time” involving the Prime Minister’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor resulting in the resignation of senior producer Joshua Wong must be deplored by all Malaysians as an undesirable and dangerous precedent.

Two important issues and principles are involved in this scandal and fiasco.

Firstly, media censorship. When Datuk Seri Najib Razak became Prime Minister a year ago, he promised the country an open, accountable and transparent government as well as a free press.

The press censorship of ntv7 popular talk show is a flagrant violation of Najib’s pledges on his assumption of the sixth premiership in the country.

The media censorship and restrictions on the ntv7 talk show includes:

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Kit sounds alarm bells for Pakatan campaign

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA KUBU BARU, April 23 — Lim Kit Siang urged his Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition today to fight for every single vote in the final stretch of the Hulu Selangor by-election campaign, pointing out that Datuk Zaid Ibrahim is now the underdog against Barisan Nasional’s (BN) P. Kamalanathan.

“The red light is on,” Lim told a press conference here this morning, in a tacit admission that PR was now trailing behind BN in the race for votes this Sunday.

Lim (picture) said the campaigning effort in the Malay and Indian majority areas by BN is not to be underestimated.

“According to them, they are in the lead and have more chances to win. This is a critical development.

“I want to set the alarm and urge all leaders to go all out to secure every single vote,” said the Ipoh Timur MP.
Continue reading “Kit sounds alarm bells for Pakatan campaign”

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A foregone conclusion

By P Ramakrishnan President of Aliran

The decision to refer Anwar Ibrahim to the Rights and Privileges Committee did not come as a surprise to Malaysians. It was a foregone conclusion. Even before the debate began in Parliament, the outcome was very obvious.

The whole issue had descended into “Get your enemy at all cost – forget about justice and fair play.” In a game of numbers, there is no need to be moral about what you do. Just nail him. You have the numbers to achieve that!

The Rights and Privileges Committee – according to what Malaysians tend to believe – would find Anwar guilty and suspend him. His removal from Parliament would spare them from Anwar’s scathing attacks and more embarrassing revelations that would put them in a spot.
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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #11

By M Bakri Musa

Chapter 2: Why Some Societies Progress, Others Regress

Culture Matters

Long before the Europeans were sending their sailors to explore the waters of the Orient, the Chinese were already regularly plying the same seas with their elaborate sailing junks. From 1405 and 1431 the Chinese had undertaken several maritime expeditions, venturing as far west as Madagascar, sailing in huge flotillas of about 300 vessels each.

Their ships were not mere junks; each measured in excess of 400 feet long and 160 feet wide, multi-decked, and capable of ferrying hundreds of personnel. They made Columbus’s 85-foot Santa Maria nothing but a lake dinghy by comparison. Those junks had grand staterooms, staggered masks, and tiered sails. They were the original luxury yachts, fit for the representatives of the Son of Heaven and their guests.
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Pakatan accuses BN of exploiting ‘brute majority’

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — Lim Kit Siang attacked Barisan Nasional (BN) today for using what he called its “brute majority” in Parliament to persecute Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Together with his Pakatan Rakyat (PR) colleagues, he urged BN lawmakers to look into their conscience when deciding whether to refer the opposition leader to powerful Parliament’s Rights and Privileges Committee.

The DAP parliamentary leader also asked Parliament why Anwar’s claim that 1 Malaysia was linked to One Israel, was so “heinous.”

“This is dark day in Parliament. I am very saddened. What is so heinous about the accusation that 1 Malaysia is a carbon copy of One Israel? What is so big [about it]?

“If I say 1 Malaysia is [a] carbon copy of Malaysian Malaysia, then will I be referred to the committee? This is politically motivated through their brute majority” he said.
Continue reading “Pakatan accuses BN of exploiting ‘brute majority’”

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Tweet updates from Parliament

Updated – 2.58pm

In 90 minutes Parlmnt will be scene of brute majority bullying minority – illustration why BN must nvr b allowed 2get back 2/3 parl majority
Thursday, April 22, 2010 8:38 AM

What’s so heinous abt saying 1Malaysia is carbon copy of 1Israel dat parliamentary opp leader shld be referred Cttee Privileges n suspended?
Thursday, April 22, 2010 9:21 AM

BN Ministers/MPs make wildest even harebrained allgtns agnst Opposition R they all 2b hauled b4 Prvlgs Cttee? Then it will have 2meet daily
Thursday, April 22, 2010 9:39 AM

2day Najib Govt n Parliament in dock n not Anwar Case of gross violation of doctrine of separation of powers with Executive dictating 2Parl
Thursday, April 22, 2010 9:43 AM
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Fastest withdrawal of Bill thanks to HS by-election – proposal to increase traffic compound fines from RM300 to RM1,000 pulled back after 48 hrs

It is an adverse reflection on the mediocrity of the Barisan Nasional Cabinet that the Road Transport (Amendment) Bill tabled in Parliament for first reading on Monday will now be withdrawn after 48 hours because of pressures from the Hulu Selangor by-election on Sunday.

When speaking in Batang Kali last night for the Hulu Selangor by-election campaign of the Pakatan Rakyat candidate, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, I had spoken specifically to censure the Transport Minister and former MCA President, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, other MCA Ministers and the MCA national leadership, as well as the entire Barisan Nasional Cabinet for tabling an amendment Bill to the Road Transport Act to increase compound fines for traffic offences by more than three-fold from RM300 to RM1,000.

I described this as “the act of a Transport Minister and government which are completely unconcerned and unsympathetic about the plight of the ordinary people in these difficult times”.

During the ceramah, the crowd in Batang Kali unanimously asked me to speak on their behalf in Parliament to demand that the proposal to increase compound fines for traffic offences from RM300 to RM1,000 should be withdrawn altogether or this would be one reason why the Barisan Nasional should be taught a lesson on the by-election polling day on Sunday, April 25, 2010.
Continue reading “Fastest withdrawal of Bill thanks to HS by-election – proposal to increase traffic compound fines from RM300 to RM1,000 pulled back after 48 hrs”

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Kit Siang claims beer-bashing is Umno ploy to implicate Najib, Hisham

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal | The Malaysian Insider

DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang wants Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to put an end to “dirty politics” in the Hulu Selangor by-election, claiming that the attacks on PKR candidate Datuk Zaid Ibrahim were part of a ploy to implicate the PM as being a drinker.

The veteran politician told reporters in Parliament that there was an “ulterior motive” behind the unwarranted attack on Zaid, who was a former Umno member, in order to “target” top Umno leaders like Najib as well as Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.
“There are layers of conspiracy and power struggles in Umno.”

“I wonder whether those responsible for these dirty politics, making this unwarranted attack on Zaid Ibrahim have ulterior objectives.”
“Their objective is to attack Najib and Hishammuddin because Hishammuddin is now dragged in, Najib also dragged in. The people behind this attack, are they going for a larger target?” quipped Lim.
Continue reading “Kit Siang claims beer-bashing is Umno ploy to implicate Najib, Hisham”

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Malaysia has degenerated into a “lebih kurang” nation thanks to four decades of Barisan Nasional “lebih kurang” government

In Tokyo yesterday the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Malaysia is no more a focused and high-achieving nation.

He said: “In Bahasa Malaysia, we have lebih kurang or more or less; we should be less lebih kurang but more precise.”

Hu Shih, noted Chinese scholar, philosopher and a leading light of the 1919 May Fourth Movement once wrote an article to pinpoint the ills of China which made China “the sick man of Asia”, entitled “The Story of Mr. Lebih Kurang” to explain why China had become a nation of sloths.

Najib has correctly diagnosed the “Lebih Kurang” disease which has afflicted Malaysia turning the country into a “lebih kurang” nation and why Malaysia had slipped from one of the most advanced nations on achievement of Independence in 1957 – second in Asia after Japan – to be caught in a “middle income trap”, left behind by other nations like Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan and now at risk in losing out to even more countries like Thailand, Vietnam and even Indonesia.
Continue reading “Malaysia has degenerated into a “lebih kurang” nation thanks to four decades of Barisan Nasional “lebih kurang” government”